Date: Tue 13 Feb 2018

Ludlow praise for WPWL trio in Cyprus Cup squad.

Three players from the Orchard Welsh Premier Women's League have been included in Jayne Ludlow's senior Wales squad that will head to the Cyprus Cup later this month.

Swansea City's Ellie Lake is joined by Cyncoed duo Laura O'Sullivan and Gwen Davies are part of the 24 player squad, and Ludlow was keen to talk about the three players as she addressed the press and media at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday morning to announce her squad. Wales will play three group games at the Cyprus Cup tournament against Finland, Italy and Switzerland, before playing a fourth game to decide the final places.

“They are players who are all at different stages,” explained Ludlow when asked about the Orchard WPWL trio. “Laura has come from the WSL1 environment where she wasn't getting regular football and chose to come back to play locally. It suits her to play for Cyncoed and work within our performance programme too. It's worked really well for her.” In fact, the goalkeeper has made 17 appearances for Wales during her senior international career, and has added a wealth of experience to the domestic top-flight since making the switch to Cyncoed.

Also representing Cyncoed at the tournament will be Gwen Davies, who has been involved with the senior team previously, but is still awaiting her first cap. “Gwen is a player who has come through our academy environment and she's flourishing in the local environment now and learning her trade,” added Ludlow.
”Competing every week has been of great benefit for her.”

Meanwhile, champions Swansea City took to social media to congratulate Ellie Lake on her selection, and like Davies, she will also be hoping to make her first senior international appearance in Cyprus. “Ellie is a new player in our environment,” explained Ludlow. “She's come through our academy system and is still involved in that, and has now joined Swansea City. She's enjoying playing regular football and is competing extremely well at that level. She's a key member of our Under-19 Elite phase group as well, so it's nice to see younger players developing within Wales.”

Wales are currently at the midway point in their 2019 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and sit top of Group 1 ahead of their remaining four games. The side are yet to concede a single goal in qualifying, and the Cyprus Cup will offer a timely opportunity to prepare for the tough test of taking on England in their next qualifier in April.